NetApp FAS2xxx / FAS3xxx 2 NIC Ethernet scheme

The NetApp FAS2020 was a pretty popular array, it had a very low price point, came with a lot of software and could handle a decent workload. The main problem was the lack of connectivity, a problem shared with many other FAS boxes unless you added additional connectivity – an option not available to the FAS2020.

Here is a quick example of a FAS2020 configured for CIFS and iSCSI while keeping iSCSI traffic separate. Create a VIF – one network interface NetApp spanning the two NICs for redundancy. The iSCSI switches are not a true “stack” so it is not a link aggregation – only one NIC can be used at a time.

Now configure your switch to “trunk” VLANs 1 and 2 onto the two ports your 2020 head plugs into. Then configure your VMware hosts to connect their iSCSI NICs to switch ports configured for VLAN2 and their VMs to connect to ports connected to VLAN1. Make sure to connect your redundant switches together with multiple ports (LAG) and that both VLANs are carried on the LAG.